By Tass
HAVANA, July 1. /TASS/. Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel received Director of the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) Sergey Naryshkin in Havana during the latter’s official visit to Cuba, the president’s administration said in a post on their X account.
“The visit demonstrates the excellent state of relations between our two governments. Diaz-Canel emphasized that the meeting is held against the backdrop of significant political and historical anniversaries, the 80th anniversary of the Soviet Union’s victory in the Great Patriotic War and the 65th anniversary of restored diplomatic relations between our two countries. The president has expressed gratitude for Russia’s unconditional support in Havana’s struggle against the US embargo and its opposition to Cuba’s inclusion in the list of countries allegedly sponsoring terrorism,” the statement reads.
Diaz-Canel also conveyed greetings to Naryshkin from Cuban revolutionary leader Raul Castro, according to the statement.
The United States severed diplomatic relations with Cuba in 1961 in response to the nationalization of US property on the island, after which it announced a trade and economic embargo. In December 2014, then-President Barack Obama acknowledged that Washington’s previous policy towards Havana was not working and announced a move toward normalizing bilateral relations and easing sanctions. In 2015, the Obama administration announced the removal of Cuba from the US list of state sponsors of terrorism.
The rapprochement between the two countries stalled after Republican Donald Trump took office in January 2017. He tightened travel rules for Americans to the republic and imposed a ban on doing business with organizations controlled by the Cuban military. The Trump administration also reinstated Cuba on the list of states sponsoring terrorism. Later, the Biden administration excluded the country from this list. Upon his return to the White House, Trump canceled this decision. He also reinstated restrictions on financial operations with Cuban legal entities.